Natural gas is abundantly available and provides a power source as a combustible fuel. However, the use of natural gas as fuel is often inconvenient for reasons of storage and handling. Accordingly, it would be desirable to convert components of natural gas to more valuable hydrocarbons. For example, conversion of natural gas to a liquid fuel would obviate certain problems of storage and handling. The main component of natural gas is methane. An efficient technology to economically convert methane directly to useful products, including acetic acid is desirable. The direct, selective conversion of methane to useful products is challenging because the C—H bonds of methane are strong, and efficient catalysts that can economically, selectively, and directly convert methane to functionalized molecules are needed.
Available methods for conversion of methane to acetic acid include a three-step process based on the high-temperature conversion of methane to syn-gas, conversion of syn-gas to methanol and finally carbonylation of the methanol to acetic acid. This process is capital and energy-intensive.
Therefore, there is a continuing need for a method for direct, selective conversion of methane to acetic acid.